Recently, there has been proposed a straight tube LED lamp (hereinafter, referred to as “LED lamp”) as an alternative to a straight tube fluorescent lamp (hereinafter, referred to as “fluorescent lamp”).
There have been proposed various kinds of LED lamps. For example, an LED lamp having the same base as that of a fluorescent lamp has been proposed. Such an LED lamp can be easily used as a replacement of a fluorescent lamp.
However, a procedure necessary for replacing a fluorescent lamp by an LED lamp (e.g., whether or not an additional power circuit is necessary) is not standardized with regard to manufacturers. In brief, manufacturers adopt different procedures for adapting a lighting fixture available for a fluorescent lamp to an LED lamp.
Meanwhile, to prevent improper connection of an LED lamp to a lamp socket (see patent document 1) available for a fluorescent lamp, as shown in FIG. 11, an LED lamp 300 with an L-shaped pin 310 which is different in shape from a straight pin of the fluorescent lamp is standardized.
The L-shaped pin 310 is formed so as to stand on an edge surface of a base 330 provided to an end of a light tube 320. The L-shaped pin 310 is constituted by a contact piece 311 extending from the edge surface along an axial direction of the light tube 320 and an extension piece 312 extending from a tip of the contact piece 311 along a radial direction of the light tube 320. In this instance, the two pins 310 are arranged side-by-side on the edge surface of the base 330. The two pins 310 are arranged such that the extension pieces 312 of the two pins 310 are directed to opposite directions.
Accordingly, a lamp socket available for the LED lamp 300 with the L-shaped pin 310 is necessary.